Dayan’s Interrupted Trip to the U.S. Remains Shrouded in Mystery

Israel was absorbed in speculation today over the mystery of Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan’s return to Israel last night for hurried consultations with premier Menachem Begin after an unexplained appearance in Paris yesterday at a time when he was supposed to be landing at Kennedy Airport in New York.

Dayan, who is scheduled to meet with Secretary of State Cyrus Vance in Washington tomorrow, left Israel early this morning on a Swissair flight to New York enroute to Washington. His departure confounded newsmen who had been told that he was to take on E1 A1 flight four hours later.

Neither Begin nor the Foreign Ministry would cast any light on Dayan’s movements or the reasons for them. The Ministry issued a brief statement at midnight that “Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan, after his visit to Europe and before his visit to the U.S., came for consultations with Premier Menachem Begin.” Begin told reporters, after today’s Cabinet session, that “Dayan did an excellent job in Europe. I am sure he will do just as good a job in the U.S. and between the jobs he came to me for consultations. There is nothing more natural.”

It wasn’t clear whether Begin was referring to Dayan’s activities in Paris or his earlier visit to Brussels where he met with Belgian Foreign Minister Henri Simonet and with NATO chief Gen. Alexander Haig. (See separate story.) When he landed unexpectedly at Ben Gurion Airport last night, Dayan told reporters, “I don’t think there is public benefit in going into the question why did I stop, where I have been and who did I meet or what did I do.” He assured them that he would not be late for any of his appointments in Washington tomorrow.

HEAVY SCHEDULE FOR DAYAN IN WASHINGTON

(Joseph Polokoff, writing from Washington, reported that Dayan, who will bring with him a peace plan approved last Sunday by the Cabinet, is scheduled to meet with Vance for a working lunch at the State Department and later in the afternoon is due to confer with President Carter at the White House. The Israeli peace plan is seen as unlikely to make much headway with Carter and Vance since they favor an “entity” on the West Bank which Israel opposes.

(Dayan is to hold a news conference Tuesday morning and then lunch with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Afterwards he is due to meet with the House International Relations Committee and then fly to New York where he is expected to remain for about two weeks for the opening sessions of the United Nations General Assembly. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ismail Fahmy is due to meet with Carter Wednesday morning and lunch with Vance immediately afterwards.)

SPECULATION RIFE OVER WEEKEND ACTIVITIES

Dayan’s meeting with Begin at the Premier’s home lasted about 70 minutes and was attended, among others, by Ephraim poran, Begin’s military advisor and Dr. Eliahu Ben Elissar, director of the prime Minister’s Office.

Speculation was rife in the Israeli media as to the nature of Dayan’s activities over the weekend. It centered on the possibility that he met in Paris with one or more high ranking Arab diplomats. Yediot Achronot reported that several members of the Saudi Arabian royal family were in the French capital Saturday. Maariv said that Dayan may have met with Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko or Fahmy.

(Fahmy flatly denied that suggestion in a statement issued in Cairo today just before his departure for the U.S. via Paris. But Israeli observers said there was no reason why Fahmy, like Dayan, could not have been in Paris yesterday and returned to his own capital for consultations before leaving for the U.S.)

Yediot also suggested that Dayan may have met with an African leader after receiving information from Gen Haig on the latest developments in the Ethiopian-Somali war and their affects on the Middle East.

Dayan’s trip to Washington for meetings with Vance and Carter began with his departure from Ben Gurion Airport Thursday, It was indicated that the Foreign Minister would stop off in Europe enroute to New York. On Friday, word reached here that Dayan was in Brussels. Belgium presently holds the presidency of the European Common Market. Israeli sources there said he would remain in Brussels “on official business” instead of flying immediately to the U.S. Later Friday, Dayan was seen boarding a Sabena flight to New York at Brussels airport. He was not spotted leaving the plane which halted on the runway briefly before taking off.

It was learned later that Dayan was not on the flight. His whereabouts were not immediately known but the Israeli sources said he would leave for the U.S. Saturday night. Instead, Dayan turned up in Paris at about the time the Sabena flight landed at New York Reporters there saw Mrs. Dayan and various aides leave the plane but not the Foreign Minister. Subsequently, the Israel Radio correspondent in Paris reported that Dayan flew to New York. Instead, he flew back to Israel.

His jet shuttles earned him the name of “Israel’s Kissinger” and some sharp criticism as well. Maariv observed today that statesmen throughout the would manage to conduct secret meetings quietly whereas Dayan seems to have a special talent for “loud secrecy.” The paper said that “whoever wants to keep a secret should make a point of keeping secret the very existence of the secret. Mr. Dayan creates too much tumult around his secrets.”